What we do see are headlines like "Oklahoma
ranks 47th in teacher pay." Why? It's because every year the education
unions compile the data on teacher pay and issue a press release that gives
reporters a story formula and some useful information.

Indeed, the publicity has been so easy to come by that the National
Education Association figured it should release it twice a year, which it now
does. Look for the inevitable teacher pay stories in the media later this
month.

In its latest release (May 2003), the NEA ranks Oklahoma
47th in the nation in teacher pay at $34,744. But if we look a little deeper,
we find that Oklahoma teacher
salaries actually compare favorably to teacher salaries in other states, as
well as to salaries of other workers in Oklahoma.

For example, the NEA salary data exclude fringes such as retirement and
health benefits. Relative to their colleagues in surrounding states, Oklahoma
teachers have generous benefit packages. Fringe benefits for K-12 instructional
staff equal 21.3 percent of salaries in Oklahoma, according to Census Bureau
data. By comparison, benefits average just 13.9 percent of teacher salaries in
Texas, 19.6 percent in Missouri and 18.9 percent in Colorado.

Oklahoma public school teachers get generous health care benefits throughout
their working years and, once vested, a pension throughout their retirement
years. Total compensation -- salary plus benefits -- is estimated at $42,134
for the average teacher in Oklahoma. That's within 5 percent of the average
compensation received by teachers in every contiguous state except Colorado.

And when tax burden and living costs are taken into account, Oklahoma
teachers are compensated better than teachers in most surrounding states.

Teachers work far fewer days per year than other workers. The average school
year in Oklahoma is 180 days. Add half a dozen or so days for parent
conferences, professional development and planning, and the annual work year
for most teachers is still shorter than 190 days.

By comparison, an accountant or lawyer with two weeks of paid vacation and
10 holidays or personal days will work 240 days -- nearly 30 percent more than
public school teachers. Yes, good teachers stay up late grading papers, etc.,
but working late is hardly limited to the teaching profession.

What's more, a recent U.S. Department of Education survey found 5.2 percent
of teachers are absent on any given school day. The absence rate for managerial
and professional workers is just 1.7 percent of annual hours.

It's true that Oklahoma teachers are near the bottom in the 50-state pay
scale. But so are most other Oklahomans -- from accountants (46th) to
operations managers (49th) to CEOs (46th). Indeed, when we look at the big
picture -- all occupations -- Oklahoma ranks 45th.

Rarely acknowledged is the remarkable effort that Oklahoma's taxpayers make
on behalf of education. The NEA says Oklahoma ranks an impressive 14th among
the states in K-12 education spending as a percentage of personal income.
Perhaps taxpayers should issue a press release on that.

Rubenstein is president of ESR
Research in Indianapolis. He was formerly a municipal bond analyst for Moody's
Investors Service, senior economist at W.R. Grace & Co., contributing
editor at Forbes magazine and staff economist for the New York State Commission
on Education.